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Past portrayals of youth in media
Past portrayals of youth in media
Analysis of the breakfast club
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In The Breakfast Club, the character of Allison Reynolds is known as the basket-case. Dose the director John Hughes agree that the character of Allison Reynolds fits the stereotype of a basket-case, or is Hughes challenging that Allison might not fit into the stereotype at all? Throughout the film, the character of Allison dose and says things that might make her seem like a basket-case to the viewers,however,someone paying attention to the little details will notice something different about Allison Reynolds aka the basket-case. We are first introduced to Allison in the beginning, when she is dropped off by her father, who seems to speed away without saying goodbye. Allison is shown wearing all black and an oversized brown jacket. She then begins walking in to the school. Allison is the last out of the breakfast club to enter the library. She heads all the way to the back, and faces the opposite direction. When assistant principal Vernon walks in, she ignores him. Allison begins chewing on her nails loudly, and all of them turn to watch her. Bender looks at her for a moment before saying "if you keep eating your hand you won't be hungry for lunch."[Breakfast Club].She responds by spitting her nails at him. He then says, "I've seen you before, ya know." .When Bender takes the screw out of the door, Allison is also watching him with the others. Assistant Principal Vernon walks in once more, questioning them about why it's closed. When he asks 'Who closed that door?' Allison squeals and bangs her head against the desk. Bender says to Vernon "she doesn't talk. When the door is closed, Allison passes the time by wrapping a string around her finger, to make it purple. Reynolds then passes time by drawing a picture of a bridge. Allison...
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...blem. Director John Hughes is able to fit the characters in their stereotypes by their actions and way of dress. For example, Allison Reynolds proves to be the basket case when she begins chewing her nails loudly and not caring who sees or when she puts sugar sticks on her sandwich. However in the end Hughes challenges the stereotype of Allison being a basket-case, by revealing that Allison has a difficult time making friends in school. By using verbal and nonverbal language the character of Allison Reynolds is able to give the audience a look at her life and emotions. This shows that there’s nothing truly wrong at the end of the day besides the fact that she’s lonely and wants attention.
Works Cited
The Breakfast Club. Dir. John Hughes. Perf. Molly Ringwald,Ally Sheedy, Emilo Estevezand,Anthony Michael Hall and Judd Nelson. Universal Pictures, 1985. Film.
One of the most interesting characteristics of Flannery O’Conners writing is her penchant for creating characters with physical or mental disabilities. Though critics sometimes unkindly labeled her a maker of grotesques, this talent for creating flawed characters served her well. In fact, though termed grotesque, O’Conners use of vivid visual imagery when describing people and their shortcomings is the technique that makes her work most realistic. O’Conner herself once remarked that “anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it will be called realistic.”
Braff himself has a warm, easy-to-watch screen presence. He can say nothing during the lull in a conversation, while the camera remains focused on his face, and it feels right. Portman and Sarsgaard are also genuine, each wonderfully relaxed in their roles. Production design is superb: details in every scene are arranged well, and the photography, by Lawrence Sher, is - like the story and the acting – unpretentious, never distracting, tricky or cute. This film never seems to manipulate us; instead it engages us, arouses our curiosity and amusement, bids us gently to care about Andrew and Sam and even Mark, leaving us entertained in the best sense. This movie is as confident, as secure in itself, as comforting, as a well worn pair of house slippers or your favorite reading chair. A splendid film. Grade: A- (09/04)
The hardships of living with a disability are communicated using minor characters as props and how they are misconceived as being unintelligent or even abnormal. For example, a waitress suggests that Raymond is a “very clever boy”. Fascinatingly, she is the only minor character who treats Raymond with respect and sympathy, in contrast to Charlie and the general public who evidently takes advantage of his condition. In addition, the mise-en-scene composed of high key lighting and a wide-angle shot creates an ambient atmosphere, which makes it seem as if Raymond is unique, in contrast to abnormal or strange.(Cinematheque, 2010, p. 1). This conversation with the waitress shows that Ray’s disability makes him unique, in a positive way, especially because the general public seem to be uneducated about mental disabilities in this film; this is evidently shown where a man is seen screaming as Raymond, as he stands in the middle of a busy intersection. As a result, the director breaks down these misconceptions and generalisations about the, as if he is reprimanding that the disabled are a part of our society and that they should be treated with respect.
American Psycho. Dir. Mary Harron. Perf. Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, and Josh Lucas. Lions Gate Films, 2000. Film.
Breakfast Club film contained a wide variety of behavior and stereotypes. Each person had their on personality and taste at the beginning of the film. I believe that communication played the biggest part in the movie. It shows the way that people from totally different backgrounds can communicate and even agree on issues. The various types of communication and behaviors within the film will be discussed.
Forrest Gump. Dir. Robert Zemeckis. Screenplay by Eric Roth. Perf. Tom Hanks and Mykelti Williamson. Paramount, 1994. Film.
The musical has several instances of sexism, one of them being Frank’s song, “The Girl that I Marry”, with the lyrics “The girl that I marry will have to be/ As soft and as pink as a nursery/ The girl I call my own/ Will wear satin and laces and smell of cologne/ Her nails will be polished/ And in her hair she’ll wear a gardenia” where he describes the “perfect girl” that he wants to marry (Sidney, "Annie Get Your Gun"). This song would be considered sexist today because of the high standards he puts his perfect woman to, while nowadays, feminists push women to be themselves without trying to live up to somebody else’s standards especially for a man. Furthermore, Frank would always become upset whenever Annie would beat or perform better than him. For example, when Annie and Frank reunite after being apart for each of their own show, they are declaring their love for each other but the moment is lost when Frank tries to offer his three medals as a gift but he sees that Annie already has a chestful of medals. The rivalry comes back and his pride takes over and Frank tries to take his gift back by saying, “No, these are too plain for you. They just got writing on the back, ‘To Frank Butler, The Champion Sharpshooter of the World’,” (Sidney, "Annie Get Your Gun"). By saying
People like John Hughes made some lasting changes in the way that teenagers are depicted onscreen. Seeing the real, down-to-earth concerns of teenagers being dramatized is much more common today than it was in the 1980s. Teenagers in films today will frequently discuss their issues like the protagonists in the Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club was one of the first films to deconstruct the high school archetypal characters, but these character types are frequently subverted today. John Hughes managed to stand apart from many other writers and directors in his day by taking a whole genre of films in a new direction.
The film being analysed is the Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes. Trapped in Saturday detention are 5 stereotyped teens. Claire, the princess, Andrew, the jock, John, the criminal, Brian, the brain, and Allison, the basket case. At 7 am, they had nothing to say, but by 4 pm; they had uncovered everything to each other. The students bond together when faced with the their principal, and realise that they have more in common than they think, including a hatred for adult society. They begin to see each other as equal people and even though they were stereotyped they would always be The Breakfast Club. The Breakfast Club highlights a variety of pressures that are placed upon teenagers through out high school. One of the most challenging aspects of screenwriting is creating characters that an audience can identify with, relate to, and be entertained by.
The 1985 film, The Breakfast Club, directed by John Hughes shows how a person’s identity can be influenced by conflict he or she has experienced in life. First, John Bender is in the library telling everyone how he got a cigar burn on his arm from his dad. For example, his mother and father don’t treat with the most respect or any respect at all. They call him names and say he can’t do anything right. One day him and his dad got into a really bad argument and his dad burnt him with is cigar that he had. Because his parents treat him that way, he treats everyone he’s around very badly.
The Breakfast Club is about 5 high school students enduring detention on a Saturday. You first see the in groups and outgroups. An in group are people who belong to the same group as you, while the out group are people who belong to a different group as you. This was shown right off the bat in
John Hughes’ 1985 film, The Breakfast Club, gives countless examples of the principles of interpersonal communication. Five high school students: Allison, a weirdo, Brian, a nerd, John, a criminal, Claire, a prom queen, and Andrew, a jock, are forced to spend the day in Saturday detention. By the end of the day, they find that they have more in common than they ever realized.
Fatal Attraction. Dir. Adrian Lyne. Perf. Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, and Anne Archer. Paramount Pictures, 1987. At School.
Stand By Me. Dir. Rob Reiner. Perf. Wil Wheaton, River Phoenix, Corey Feldman, Jerry O'Connell. DVD. Columbia Pictures, 1986.
A Beautiful Mind may have been developed to be a crowd-pleaser as well as a tear-jerker, because you know this is a man’s life without falsities. It is blatant and true, that’s all. This film proves that there are still instances when Hollywood-produced, big budget movies are worth a viewer's investment of time and money.